Oil-well fishing-tool



M. M. MCGREGOR.

OIL WELL FISHING TOOL.

APPLICATION FILED MAR- 5` I9I9.

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MARY M. MCGREGOR, OF PASADlilN'A,A CALIFORNIA.

OIL-WELL FISHING-TOOL.

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARY M. MOGREGOP., a citizen of the United States,residing at Pasadena, in the county of Los Angeles and State ofCalifornia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Oil-lollFishing- Tools, of which the following is a specification.

rlhis invention relates to lishing tools for well drilling apparatus,and consists in the new and useful features and in the novelconstruction, arrangement and combination of parts, the advantages ofwhich will be apparent from a consideration ot the preferred form otconstruction herein shown, described and claimed.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a simple andpositive means for easily and quickly removing under-reamer lugs, boltsor other small objects which may have accidentally fallen into or beendisplaced in, the bottom of the well.

ln the operation of sinking oil wells hard stratas ot roclr are likelyto be encountered and under-reamers are used to enlarge the hole. Saidunder-reamers have lugs that are apt to become loosened from theunderreaming tool and to tall into the hole. This is only likely tooccur in Jformations where the bottom of the hole is hard and the lugcan not be driven out ot the way but must be removed. Various applianceshave been provided for the purpose of removing such lugs but thisinvention is broadly new, basic and primary in its character in that lprovide the tool with lingers which are adapted to pass down and aroundthe sides of the objects to be removed and to be bent underneath saidobjectby the application of such pressure or force as can `be applied bythe usual jars of a well drilling rig. To this end the lingers areconstructed of material such as steel havinga stubborn upper portion andbeing reduced toward the points oli the fingers and being at the lowerends or points of such construction and temper that they may be given bythe jars, a permanent set or crimp underneath the object to be removed.Y These lingers are slightly resilient under such pressure as may beexerted by hand or by means not capable of applying great force, butthetemper of the lower ends ofthe ngers is such as to allow such ylowerends to be given a permanent set when driven down against the hard rockybottom of the hole by means of the powerful appli Specification ofLetters Patent. i

Patented Nov. 2, 1920. 191e. serial No. 280,872.

cation of force which can be exerted by the usual jars of a welldrilling rig.

Other objects, advantages and features of invention will appear from thedrawing, the subjoined detail description and the appended claims.

The drawing illustrates the invention.

Figure l is a broken sectional view of the bottom portion ot a well inwhich an under reamer lug has been lodged; and showing the well casingin section and the tishing tool in vertical section and in itsiirstposition of enveloping the lug to be removed from the well. y

F ig. 2 is 'a section taken l, showing the means used for attaching thefishing tool to the shank ot a drill bit.

1 Fig. 3 is a broken sectional view of the bottom portion of a wellsimilar to that shown in F ig. l, and showing moved to a finalenveloping position under the lug which is to be removed from the well.

Fig. a is a section on line at of Fig. l with parts omitted.

Fig. 5 is a section on line x5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a detail of the lower end oli' one oi the lingers of thefishing tool showing a preferred shape of said ends.

In detail, the well l is shown drilled into hard substance 2, such asrock or the like, through which deep wells have to pass. In the upperpart ot the well is shownthe casing 3 having on its lower end the driveshoe 4C Athe purpose ot which is to facilitate the lowering of thewellcasing, when the well has been enlarged by reamers, not shown, butwhich are well understood as tofunction and operation, the casingfollowing the drills and reamers downward `as they form the well,resulting in a very heavy column of pipe from near the bottom of thewell to its top, which piping would require considerable time and laborfor removal in` order on line r2 of Fig.

to remove an obstruction.

These obstructions usually consist of under-reamer lugs, .broken drillbits. bolts or other hard objects which are small enough to allow themto be drawn up through the well casing if properly grappled; and thisinvention lconsists in providing means for so removing such obstructionswithout Vremoving the casing.

As shown in Fig. l, there is attached to the jar rod 5 one end of thebitGwhose lower end is threaded to fit into the threaded socket 7 of theiishing tool 8.

the lishing tool whenf'they have passed below To the lower' edge of thehead 9 of the fishing tool 8 and integral therewith, are `the lingerslOowhich are distributed at equal distances around said head. lpreterto'use six ol these lingers but do not limit the invention to thatnumber as any other number of nngers may be used. These lingers extenddownward a considerable distance lrom` the head and are tapered to asharp point at their lower ends winch are spread outward beyond theinterior circumference of 'the well casing; so'that in inserting thefishing tool the lingers will have to be sprung inwardly. The lingersare adapted at the lower ends to be Vgiven a permanent set at the bendbut are constructed with enough resilience to spring them outward againthe bottom olf the casing, giving them a slightly wider grapplingradius. rlGhe length and taper of the lingers admit oli this slightresilience, y Abut their temper isnot sullicient to prevent the points'from being bent, and given a permanent set sov that they will remain ina'bent position whenl driven down with sufficient torce togive them apermanent set or crimp. And it is this feature whichconstitutes theelfectiveness oi my invention. Fingers of any other shapeI Aorconformation may be used without Vdeparting from the spirit of myinvention, provided hey are so tempered as to enable the operator toproduce thel same effect. v l

As shown,y thel drill hasy the cut away sides- 11 common in drill bitconstruction, to allow. the passageway 12 between thedrill and the baseof the fishing tool for mud and water lilto pass. This mud and waterline isf` shown as being'slightly above the fishing tool,.for the saireold clearness, but it is usu- Y ally much higher. Y

Vln operation, assuming thattherlu'g lll has accidentally fallen tothebottomi ot the well 1 and is to be removed bel'ore. drilling canrberesumed, thelishing tool S is attached to the bit 6 andthe lattersecured tothe jar rod 5; Thelingers 10 are then compressed until theywill` enter the well casing 3; The lishingv toolA is then forceddownward until the fingers 10 expand below-'the bottom of the'rasing andenvelop the lugll, as shown inlligl.

By operating the' jarsl the lower' ends' of thelingers-willbe bent orcrimped so as to extend from numerous sides underneath the objectv toxbelremoved and will: be given a permanent bend, set or crimp lso that whenthe lishin'gtool 8 is drawn out, the permaf nently bent endsl of' the;linger tips will carry out the objectv to .be removed.`

It will be seen Jfrom the foregoing thatan obstruction mayy be removedironia well ver-y easilyv and quickly andin avery yshort time; y v YWhen the fishing tool has beent removed 'from the well the lingers maybe heated and 'straightenedout so as` to release the object,

thus removed. Thereupon the lingers may be again bent into the formadapted to the purpose above described. V

By the old method of pound-ing the lug into fragments it'required manydays Voli time and labor to clear the well oi" the obstructions; andoftentimes such laborious eli'orts were unsuccessful Aowing to fragmentsof the lug being pounded intothe rock and being dislodged above thedrill, locking the drilling mechanism and causing the weil to-'beabandoned.

My invention eliminates all this arduous labor of clearing the well ofobstructions; and accomplishes this object with maximum ease and speedand minimumv labor Vand expenditure olf time, and is broadly new andbasic in principle.

The invention admits oi modilications, and a right is claimed' to allsuch as do not depart Yfrom the scope and spirit oi' my invention.

.l claim:

l". ln a llishing toolf ler wells, a head; and aplurality of lingerssecured to said head and adapted to be permanentlyk bent around and madeto` grapple an obstruction in the well.

2. .ln a lishing tooly lor wells, a head a plurality et lingers adaptedto bend under pressure, secured to said head and adapted to envelop anobstruction in saidwell; and means toi-'permanently bending said lingersaround said obstruction.

3, ln a ishing'tool' for wells, a head; a pluralityY of lingers integralwith said head, said lingers lbeing adapted to envelop an obstruction insaid well; and means l'or forcing and holding said fingers around saidobstruction.,

4.-., ln a: lihing tool tor wells, a head; a plurality ol lingersextending dnwnward iromsaid head and adapted to\ envelop an obstructionin sa'd well;.meansffor forcing the lingersA down the well and forbending` aid lingers Vabout said obstruction for the purpose of removingsaid obstruction from the well. l

5.. ln a fishingtoolV for wells, a head; a plurality of lingersextending downward from Vsaid head andfadapted to' envelop anobstruction in ay well', `said 'lingers being adapted to be bent underpressureI within 'a well.; means lorilowering said/*lingers into thewell to envelop an obstruction; and means for'bending said: lingersaround: said obstruction. i v f y 6; In a lishingtoolf for wells, yahead; a plurality of.` lingers' equidistantaround the bottom of' saidhead, said lingers extending downward and adapted to envelop anobstructionin al well, and adapted to be bent under the obstruction: bya downward pressure; means for lowering said fingers in the well; andmeans for bending said ngers around the obstruction for the purpose ofremoving it from the well.

7. In a fishing tool for wells provided with a well casing; a head; aplurality of fingers equidistant around the bottom of said head, saidfingers tapering downwardly to points and adapted to envelop anobstruction, and to be bent ther'earound under pressure, the points ofsaid lingers being normally extended beyond the interior diameter ofsaid well casing. a

8. A fishing tool for wells, comprising a head adapted to be attached toa driving rod and movable in a well provided with a casing; said drivingrod; malleable lingers rigidly attached to said head, the free ends ofthe fingers being inturned andnormally sprung outwardly beyond thecasing; and means controlled by the operator to cause the fingers to becontracted to clutch an obstruction and hold it for removal from thewell.

9. Means for removing obstructions from a well provided with a casing,comprising in combination, a j ar rod adapted to operate in the casing;a threaded head detachably fixed to said rod; bendable and resilientngers rigidly attached to said head provided with inturned, sharpenedends adapted to be bent under an obstruction and there given a permanentset by means of downward pressure exerted by the jar rod upon saidfingers pressing the same against the hard bottom, and adapted to bethereby bent around an obstruction at the bottom of the well and topreserve a clutch upon the obstruction tc enable the same to be drawn upthrough the casing by means of the jar rod.

lO. In a fishing tool, in combination with a head; malleable clutchingmembersradially centractible under downward pressure, and adapted to begiven a permanent set to retain such contracted position until expandedby the operator.

ll. In a fishing tool, a body member; malleable radial clutching membersso shaped that endwise pressure against them will cause them to becontracted radially and cordinately, and to receive a permanent set soas to remain in such clutching position until expanded by manual force.

12. A fishing tool having bendable lingers adapted to be permanentlybent toward each other at the lower ends to clutch a loose obstructionat the bottom of a well by pressing the lower ends of said tool againstthe bottom of the well, for the purpose of grappling and removing anobstruction.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles,California, this 27th day of February 1919.

MARY M. IVICGREGOR.

Witness:

WILLIAM M. GENTLE.

